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Monday, December 28, 2009

Hope everyone had the best and happiest Christmas. Sadness is setting in while Im back at work this morning, so I needed to indulge in some memories from the Christmas weekend. Sharing some of my favorite things about my favorite day of the year, hopefully it cheers everyone up who has to go back to reality today!

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse"-Romans 1:20

Ok, so I will be nerding out on this post, but bear with me. Last night we went to our dear friends Jan's house (who will be blogged about later as a person worth noting) with a few friends to have a little holiday gift wrapping party. It was such a fun night with a yummy salmon dinner, homemade mochas and wrapping paper flying everywhere. I was really unprepared and did not have my gifts done yet, so i finished my crafts (not totally finished). Anyway, the best part of the night aside from amazing friends and catching up was this documentarywe watched on the Star of Bethlehem.

I am not into astrology or astronomy, but I AM into seeing how huge and amazing God is. This documentary blew me away. Talks about the way God knows every star by name and how all the constellations are in order and all creation works together.

Now, even if you don't believe this, you should still watch it, because its pretty magnificent. The technology they have these days can read the stars all the way back to the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. The movie talks about the way that the star of Bethlehem was a once in a lifetime occurrence that ACTUALLY happened and is feasible, and that it happened right at the time of Jesus birth in Bethlehem...and not only that (here is the part where I get nerdy and you can stop reading if you don't believe in the inerrancy of the bible), but the star of Bethlehem and everything that occurred to make it appear is a fulfilment of biblical prophesy, both from the time of His birth and death on the cross. Its pretty incredible.

Just bear with me and watch the clip, or the whole movie. If you find things like this interesting you will LOVE it.

Monday, December 21, 2009

I am starting a new weekly post dedicated to people in my life that I think are truly remarkable. Sometimes I forget to tell the people who mean the most to me and who have impacted my life how much i love them! And i forget to THANK them. This post is to recognize people that inspire me and who have helped make me who I am in one way or another.

To start things off, I think its only fitting to showcase my bestest best friend:

Meet Annalore.

I met Anna in between my freshman and sophomore year of college at Oregon State. At first we did not like each other because we liked the same boy :-) (very girly of us huh?) We pretty soon found out that we actually DID like each other way more than this boy, and then we un-liked the boy together. We became the best of friends in no time. From then on, we were Siamese twins, went everywhere together and did everything together. We had big dreams of moving to the beach and being bums together forever.

Sounds like a normal friend story right? The thing is, she was way more than a fun friend to me..she came into my life right when I needed someone to walk with me. I was lonely and hurt and struggling to walk with Jesus. I felt like I didn't have anyone who was in the same spot as me. I remember one night when I was living at a summer house full of girls I didnt fit in with, we were having our church's college group at the house and I decided to sit in the back where nobody could see me. I remember feeling so alone and sad (depressing sounding, i know) and needing someone to reach out to me because I was scared to reach out to anyone...and there she was! We walked through life together..and fell down a lot together, and got in a little trouble together. She was my angel right when I needed one. You know those people that God sends into your life to show you the love of Jesus when you are having trouble understanding it? That was her! She will be my best friend forever simply because of the huge impact she had on me during a time when I really really needed a best friend.

I love Anna because:

*she is THE most beautiful lady ever, inside and out

*she is full of class

*she has a gimungus heart for people who need help

*she makes me pee my pants laughing

*she corrupted me in a very funny way, and if you don't know what I am talking about, I will probably never tell you

*she keeps my secrets

*she forgives me when im a brat

*she tells the brutal truth

*she is wise

*she gave me her anthropologie discount even though i never used it before she quit :-( its the thought that counts

*she shared her closet with me

*she eats dessert with me whenever I need it (Ben only likes fruit for dessert...weirdo)

*she was a remarkable maid of honor

*she is super smart

*she is always the same no matter how long its been since we have seen each other, we can always pick up where we left off...you know those kinds of friends? They are the best.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

I have an amazing husband. He has the biggest heart in the world and that is the first reason I fell in love with him. He is more like Jesus than anyone I know. He is full of compassion, passionate about almost everything, loves everyone, has more patience than i know what to do with, has the gift of encouragement, a shepherds heart, and is really just the best person I know, but would argue with me on that until he is blue in the face.

Ben and I have always had a heart for the widow and the orphan, and our first adventure together was going on a trip to India with our church. He was on staff at the church as the missions pastor at the time, so he was our fearless team leader. We kinda fell in love here (even though I already knew well before this that I would be lucky to be with him forever). If anyone has ever been on any kind of trip like that, you know that two weeks with a person in a third world country is good for about a year's worth of relationship building in a normal day to day life. Anyway, it was on this first trip together that i really got to see just how much love Ben has for God's broken people.

A few months ago he started talking to me about his desire to do more for the kingdom of God in other countries, and giving people a way to give and be connected with ministries around the world that do not have the resources or the voice to receive any sort of help and support. He has created a blog about a friend of ours named Stanley in Kitwe, Zambia. You can read his whole storyhere, but to make a long story short, Stanley used to have tuberculosis and was not supposed to live. God healed him completely, and he has devoted his life to helping those who are diagnosed with AIDS and TB in Zambia who cannot afford food, shelter, and the medication to make them well enough to live their life. He has given up his whole life to make this happen, and he currently has ONE supporter. His needs are small compared to what you might think, about $300 a month to run his whole ministry. Since its Christmas and a lot of people are looking for a way to give, I thought I would share Stanley's story and the beginning of this ministry that Ben is setting up for him, and other people around the world with grass roots ministry ideas who need support from people like us.

Our house has a second bedroom which currently holds a crappy old desk from when i was little holding nothing at all (on which one of the drawer faces is actually glued on from when it fell off once), a filing box sitting on the floor, a funky futon that holds unfolded laundry and never gets sat upon, Tangle's crate, and thats about it! In the room though are too small closets with bi-fold doors. One of them holds Ben's clothes and the other one we are wanting to turn into an office space. I have always wanted to have a desk in a closet, and now we have a an extra one...so that is our next project. I have been gathering inspiration on ones that I like. Ben wants to make sure its "manly"...I think he means he wants it dark and studyish and rugged. Thats fair. I can go with that. Here are some things I have found that I like..let me know if you have seen anything amazing. Its our Christmas beak project..even though it will probably be ongoing for a little while if we're realistic. I'll post progress as we get started! But for now here is some inspiration...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Since I am pretty green to the blogging world, I have been noticing things that I really enjoy in the blogs I have been following, and one of my favorite things is the recurring posts like "my favorite thing about today" from The Little Things We Do. (sorry Lauren, my hyper linker thingy is not working for some reason.) Anyway, I love being able to check in and know I'm going to see something I recognize. I thought I would give it a try! Let me know what ya think?

Confessions:

1).I have a really hard time justifying shaving my legs regularly during the winter.

2).I am wearing two different socks, and that is not unusual to me.

3). I am allergic to gluten, but I eat at least one bite of wheat every single day because i think its worth it.

4). I never have and never will have a closet where I can find both shoes I am looking for without digging.5).I have ten pairs of these Nike shorts which I am obsessed with in different colors. I put them on and they magically make me feel athletic. But the truth is that nine times out of ten I don't actually do anything athletic in them. Wearing Nike shorts makes me feel just as good or better than actually working out sometimes.

6).Number 6 is a two-parter. Part 1: When I was little, my nickname was "Demanda". Kinda cute and funny then maybe. Part 2: I am now 22 years old, married, have a full time job, a dog, a house, and a fully adult life...and I still often times spew out "Demanda"-like attitudes. I do not like this. Is fact, this is a quality that I can't stand in other people because it is so un-Christlike. The sad thing is that so often I overlook the fact that I exhibit these bratty, selfish, demanding sassy remarks to the people I love. This is something I am trying to change about myself. Sure everybody has their moments of princessiness...but I don't think thats an excuse. Its not so cute to act like a princess when you're an adult, in my opinion. I won't say I have a wealth of life experience, and I am still learning who I want to be in this life, but I DO know what I DON'T want to be...and its Demanda. I need grace every day, big time! :-)

Ouch...actually that felt good!

ps..do not use my nickname when referring to me, i won't think its funny :-)

Friday, December 11, 2009

It is Friday and I have no had a weekend since Thanksgiving...and at my job, its needless to say that I am a tiny bit braindead by now. I am having the hardest time concentrating today, and I feel like my head is going to float away. Not to mention that with the cold weather...my residents are CRANKY to say the least. How 'bout try being nice for crying out loud! For some reason people seem to think that the fact that UPS told them they delivered their package when they in fact did not is my personal fault, and i have ruined their holiday season. Its great. The best one is people being angry with me for making them pay their rent. I'm such a jerk, huh?

Since my head is in the coulds today and every person I talk to is STOMPING on my nerves...I have found some lovely things to make me smile. :-) (not that i REALLY have anything to complain about, Im so blessed, but still..sometimes I need to look at something pretty).

Thursday, December 3, 2009

I have WAY to much jewelry which needs to first be sorted through and purged...but at the same time, I need a more lovely way to store everything in one place other than draped over my bed posts, mirrors, door handles, cups, bedside tables, drawers, or any other place that happens to be next to me when i want to take it off (I'm kind of a free spirit when it comes to keeping things in "their place"). This is lovely and I think i will try it. I might need a few of them.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Hi my name is Amanda and I live in the North Pole. And by that I mean my living room is a winter wonderland full of Christmasy goodness. Ben and I made the journey to cut our tree over the holiday weekend (all 10 miles away). We tried a different place this year that we did not love as much as last year, but it was still fun. The place we went was a little more domesticated and less rugged hiking through the mud. It may have been the mansion sized house behind the tree farm that tainted the experience just a tad...but not enough that it was not still really fun and festive. After we got our tree we set it up and got to decorating, and then attempted the almost impossible task of teaching the puppy not to eat the bird ornaments... really hard for him clearly.

such an adventurer.

boyfriend and girlfriend

I love this dog, but he was SO annoying to have at a tree farm. Not the best place for a hunting dog. I think he ate some mushrooms too.

Its fun starting out and working with what we have to make decorating cute and fun without spending a boatload of money every year. We are firm believers that you can make people feel special and loved without draining your savings account or going into debt. It may be a little more work and time, but home made and creative gift giving, hostessing, and decorating are so much more fun and memorable in my opinion. Anyway, enough of my rant...here's where we are at so far

eureka! the lights are good!

my dinner: frosted flakes and ciderI promise after Christmas I will share my homemade gifts, but I don't want anyone who is getting them to see and ruin the fun!